The last time I wrote about notorious antisemite Tony Greenstein (or as I call him, the Notorious B.I.G – Bloody Idiot Greenstein) almost two years ago, I opined he might soon be a notorious bankrupt antisemite, after the High Court struck out his libel claims and ordered him to pay costs.
I am now happy to report that he might also soon be a notorious antisemite being extra careful in the prison shower not to drop the soap.
A notorious Brighton activist has been found guilty of planning to damage a drone factory he believed was supplying arms to Israel.
Tony Greenstein, who is well known in Brighton both for his anti-Israel activism and for being expelled from the Labour party for abusing fellow members, was one of four defendants found guilty today.
A jury at Wolverhampton Crown Court failed to reach a verdict against a fifth defendant following an eight-week trial.
Following the verdict, Greenstein, 69, was also ordered by the judge to take down several blog posts in which urged jurors to acquit him and his co-defendants as a matter of conscience – which the judge said constituted “serious contempt”.
His Honour Judge Michael Chambers said: “It has been brought to my attention Mr Greenstein has been running an open commentary as to what’s been happening in the trial on his blog.
“Had the jury not come back, I was going to consider whether his liberty should be maintained.
“Not only has he been running a log of what’s happened, including matters not in front of the jury, it’s also been inaccurate.
“He’s also been calling on jurors to return outcomes according to conscience. That’s a serious matter of contempt.
“It’s a serious contempt to invite jurors to return outcomes which are not in accordance with the facts, but in accordance with their conscience.
“He will remove all this material from the log and desist.
“He needs to understand that if he fails to do so he will be brought back here under a warrant and will be remanded in custody.”
He added: “I don’t spend all my time reading blogs, but there are some people who do.”
Following a short break, Greenstein’s barrister Danielle Manson said: “The blogs have all been taken down. I don’t have a written undertaking, but he has heard you.”
Sentencing has now been adjourned until 26 June, with Judge Chambers warning all the defendants they could be sent to prison.
During the trial, the jury heard Greenstein hired a van on March 8, 2021, from Choices Vehicle Rentals in Beaconsfield Road, where the manager said he seemed frantic.
The van was then loaded up in Brighton with sledgehammers, smoke bombs, ladders, superglue, a crowbar and fire extinguishers adapted to spray red paint.
He then drove it to Walsall in the West Midlands, where he picked up five other members of Palestine Action, a group whose stated aim is to shut down Israeli arms company Elbit Systems.
When police stopped the van in the early hours of the next morning, Greenstein and four others were wearing the group’s distinctive red boiler suits, which its protesters wear when ‘occupying’ targets.
Greenstein told police he was just going for a drive, but after he was released on bail, he posted on his blog that he had been arrested “whilst driving a van to Elbit Systems Shenstone factory.
“We were intent on redecorating the premises of Elbit in the blood red colour of their victims.”
The police investigation subsequently found that Parker, whose mother lives in Walsall, used the name Bob Palmer to order the red boilersuits, which were delivered to his mum’s house.
An Airbnb was also booked in the town under the name of Huda Ammori, the joint founder of Palestine Action.
On the day, text messages to the Airbnb’s owner said someone called Bob would be picking up the keys – keys which were later found in Parker’s possession.
After the six were arrested, packaging for the boiler suits was found in the Airbnb – where the beds appeared not to have been slept in.
Greenstein and the other five people in the van were all charged with possessing an article with the intent to destroy property.
Bethany Clowackin of no fixed abode pleaded guilty before the trial began. Greenstein, who now lives in Belgrave Place, and Ibrahim Samadi from Cambridge were found guilty by 11 jurors to one and Alex Waters from Ashurst Wood and Jeremy Parker from Birmingham were unanimously found guilty today.
This news comes a few weeks after the notorious antisemite was caught saying notoriously antisemitic things in an interview with Al-Hiwar TV.
